The Austin weekly statesman. (Austin, Tex.) 1883-1898, 1887-05-26

the Picturesque Florida Capital-The
Restless People.
We sit about here in Tallahassee on the
wide galleries of the hotel a little llstlessly.
4 glass of lemonade made with the delightful
addition of sour orange, here and there
half opened book or a slowly moving fan ac-
.entuatc the dolce far nente existence. Inc
younger more energetic Of the party nre OH
III fox hunt, and we hear the sound Of
norns in the distance. Fans and novels are
forgotten. We lean over tho balcony rail-
ngs, our eyes riveted on the brow OF the hill
near by Suddenly the cavalcade sweeps
over it toward US
A pretty sight! Twenty-four riders, nine
teen hounds moving in procession toward us
70 the glad music of horns and laughter. A
dozen voices take up the tale, in which such
thrilling expressions as "hard riding" "cross
country ditches," "fences," lat last we saw
HE fox" are distingushoble-for we do not
hunt anise seed in Florida, be it understood
but live, shrewd, sharp nosed foxes Then
the party rides Off to take position under the
great oaks for a photograph, and we return
to our fans. A vision of you poor unfor-
Inmates, rubbing your noses ap1 ears, and
covering over open registers, rises to our
plying minds as we languidly sip our lemon
lde
But the fox hunt deserves ,lore than this
,ursory meniion-or the fox h lnts-for sport
Is one of the pleasures in life That bears repe-
!tion. The other day one Of the little red
victims was freed by the dogs, and it was
sight not to be forgotten. 1t was in a grove
Of live oak, and my knowledge of the country
and desire for artistic accessories induces me
10 add a few glossy leaved magnolia trees to
he scene to give local color. Light and
shadow fell through the leaves on the bays
and roans and sorrels, and on the pretty faces
and brigandesque hats. You can feel it if
you cannot see it, At the least, you can hear
1t, can't youl Painting horses, baying hounds,
laughing voices, the horn, an undertOne of
breeze in the tree tops, and overhead the
plucky, wide eyed red fox waiting for his
leath
Toecome back TO things absolutely practi-
al, however, here is a recipe for the epcure;
The real lemonade of Florida and of the
future is made as follows: Cracked ice, syrup
IF sugar, one pint of apolinaris, two lemons,
one-half sweet orange, one-balf sour orange.
70 be drank always in the open air with the
Here am back where started, with the
thermometer at so deg, and this letter only
lust begun, for of course | must tell you about
he celebrated local colored preacher and his
asst Sundays sermon: "Brcdrcn, | announce
my tex, Who Is Itf | mex divide my tex
inter two parasitic subjeck an the predicate.
Who is tho subjeck an is it is the predi.
cate. Now, if jis' KEEP on a-sayn' my sub
jock all cvenin', Who, who, who, who 2
there'd be no sense in my remarks; an eff
should jis' a-keep on a-sayin' my predicate all
svenin', Is it, is it, is it, is it, there'd be no
tense in that remark; but eff put the subjeck
m the predicate together, an say Who is
IT. my meanin' is perfeckly clare" This
ame parson tells us gravely that Moses lived
IN the year 81 Ammo Domini, and FUSED to
lomini2e ober the children of Israeli" but
that we couldn't dominic ober de two Jews
IN Tallahassee" Also he announced that
ihere will be a meeting mex Tuesday even
ng, "by the will Of God and meetin' nex
Monday evenin' anyway"
But there is better talk than this in Talla-
lassee. There are grave old judges and gov
,rnorS, the colonies, and their charming,
stately wives and daughters, and II manly set
md honor. And there are glories besides
hose Of the past. Each morning fine old
rlver trays are "handed in" by smiling ne
poes laden with japonicas and violets and
.oses from the family gardens, gifts to the
various guests of the hotel-most frequently
70 the bellies,
One Of our northern friends confessed that
Tallahassee was so intimately connected in
ler mind with the geography lessons of her
childhood and the list of state capitals that
the figured it as arustling little city, very red
n brick, and smart with stone pavements and
ihops. Imagine her surprise when she saw
Tallahassee the realm this case the ideal as
we'll. Long struggling streets, running up
ill and down dale, red earth, great live oaks
lining the way; here and there open commons,
everywhere views and high horizon lines;
l glimps of Prince Murat's roof to the
west, Of the smoke to the east; always
wherever you look, something of beauty
md interest The old houses have decayed
iignity, most of them, though one or two
till stand in all their glory. Near the
hotel there is q colonial sort of structure,
with massive white pillars and carefully
Sept garden walks. 1t recalls the old ITALIA
aassee days, for it was here that one of the
icions Of an ancient race brought his bride,
md the wedding feast is still q tradition In
Ibis generation. / cannot tell you how many
tour in hand coaches there We're, nor how
many guests, but they were entertained,
horses, servants and all, and the host had it
IN his power to give mount to every one.
This reminds one OF the tournaments that
lsed to be held in valley north of here,
where the hillsides would be black with spec
ators. There is a great dir of romance about
The place. 1t has as much local feeling as
Sleepy Hollow, and is a sort Of southern
'ourth cousin to that dear spot. One does
rot wonder that writer feels it, and can
,asily believe the report that Maurice Thomp-
ION wrote "a Tallahassee Girl" after only two
weeks of life here.
The most notable feature of Tallahassee is
| he ruin Of what once were great old places
houses set in groves Of live oak and mag
lolias, falling into decay, only bits left of the
hedges and avenues.
You see the same thing in the faces of the
oeople-a far away look on the old faces, and
IN the young, now and again, that restless
| expression that always suggests Christopher
Columbus and the longing for new worlds TO
ny mind But they have eaten of the
otos They do not often break away after
Ill They put spurs to their horses instead,
md ride hard out into the pine land; they set
heir teeth firmly, and, fortunately or unfor-
unately, for the merciful hand OF Fate il
not ALWAYS kind they end by falling in Iowa